


A Thousand Kisses Deep

by Darth_Cannizard



Category: Joyeux Noël | Merry Christmas (2005)
Genre: M/M, Prisoner of War, Whump, World War I
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 17:29:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28657251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darth_Cannizard/pseuds/Darth_Cannizard
Summary: A combat medic is confronted with atrocities of war.
Relationships: Lt Gordon Mackenzie/Lt Horstmayer (Joyeux Noël)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	A Thousand Kisses Deep

**Author's Note:**

  * For [xsunny](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xsunny/gifts).



> Sunny, look closely at the surname of the combat medic.

It's a hay barn into which the English officer, Gordon Mackenzie, leads him. He doesn't know exactly what it's about. After all, he's only been on the Western Front for a few days. As such, Mateus thought that as a medic he would have a certain immunity to emotional empathy, that as a medic he would be better armed against the horrors of war than a normal soldier. Those few days taught him better.

Mateus Montanha is actually Portuguese, but his mother is French, which means that he has both nationalities and speaks both languages. His unit was subordinated to the British Supreme Command.

The man is sitting on the floor with his back to a wooden pillar supporting the barn’s roof. His jacket lies next to him, he's only wearing his high boots, white shirt, breaches held by suspenders. There is an iron ring in the pillar, his hands are bound together at the bleeding wrists and attached with a chain above his head to this ring. Thin rivulets of blood are running down his pale arms. He is blinfolded. _Why this amount of cruelty?_ thinks Mateus. The ground around the prisoner is drenched in blood. It is probably the poorly bandaged wound on his thigh that is the reason.

There are some English soldiers standing near him. Mateus notices they are making hints about wanting to defile the German prisoner of war because he will be executed afterwards anyway.

It seems the prisoner hears and understands everything. He is trembling slightly.

_I would be surprised if he doesn't have a fever, it looks like blood poisoning_ , thinks Mateus.

Mackenzie shoos the soldiers out of the barn with an angry gesture.

“That is against the Hague Convention, what was said there,” says Mateus in a low voice.

"I will not allow anyone to rape or execute him," says the Englishman. “It was another unit that captured him. He and his people tried to save a few French civilians and they were surprised by our people. Wait, I'll untie him."

He unties the half-conscious German lifting him up under his knees and carrying him a little to the side. Mateus watches what is happening. There is something gentle about how the English officer touches the prisoner.

"Everything will be fine," says Gordon, gently touching the German's cheek. “He has a fever running. The wound on the thigh and the bloodloss lead to complications. Our English medic didn't want to tend to him, just wanted to leave him on the field to bleed to death."

Mateus takes care of the wounded man as best he can. "I will give him some morphine so that he becomes calmer and is free of pain." The prisoner apparently noticed this because he holds out his arm to the medic - pale, delicate, the blue vein shimmering - in a gesture of absolute confidence that he will be helped.

"Well. Stay with him, I'll be right back. He is to be transported to the next hospital."

Mateus is about to pack his bag when the prisoner becomes lucid again.

„Wo ist Gordon?“

„O que você está dizendo?“ says Mateus in Portuguese.

The German looks at him questioningly and switches to French.

„Où est Gordon?“

The medic experiences first a moment of surprise, and then of joy. He hasn't had the opportunity to use his mother's language in a long time.

When Gordon comes back with a stretcher, Mateus has calmed Karl again by telling him an old french tale he knew from his maternal grandmother.

They put Horstmayer together on the stretcher, his head is laid on a pillow and he is well covered with a blanket. Mateus turns briefly away to get his bag. When he looks back, he sees Gordon bend down swiftly, cupping the prisoner tenderly under his chin, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

No, as a medic, Mateus is not better equipped against outbursts of emotion, doesn’t have a bigger immunity to feelings - his eyes suddenly start to itch and get wet.

He didn't expect to see love in this terrible place. He takes the image of this tender moment between an English officer and his German prisoner of war with him. It's a beautiful image he will never forget. It will help him survive the horrors of this terrible war.

**Author's Note:**

> Portugal joined the Great War in 1917 and they fought under the british command.
> 
> The title is a song by Leonard Cohen.


End file.
